I am new to chalice corals give me the chalice 101 lesson!

[tomtep]

My chalices love a little amino acid each week. I can see the polyps swelling up when I dose amino.

 

[Eienna]

Someone said they like High Magnesium.

Do you guys all Dose Magnesium for this reason?

Also, If you have high magnesium doesn't that in turn lower your calcium.

I heard when one goes up or down the other does the opposite.

Magnesium does not lower calcium. It just improves the availability of the calcium to your corals, allowing them to grow faster - and thus, consume calcium faster.

 

[SantaMonica]

The hermit problem is yet another reason for a coral-only tank. I think a chalice-only tank would be great, kind of like a zoa garden.

 

[Lockridge49]

Anyone else ever had this experience? I have a lot of hermits as part of my cuc and was thinking of getting a chalice.

I am having that problem right now, every once and a while I'll see flesh missing ): it really ticks me off

 

[inkedsparkster]

Subscribed to read later. R2R always has awesome FB links to great threads for people like me (a beginner).

 

[deedeesdaddy]

I keep 10 hermies in a 20 Gallon with 20 chalices... I feed lps pellets which end up everywhere and keep the hermits happy but before I got the pellets I only spot fed frozen cubes laced with coral frenzy. Or when I didn't feel like mixing up a batch of frozen I would just add a couple scoops of the coral frenzy to the water column. The only time I had anything pick at a chalice was a pink ******* that a peppermint shrimp ate up and killed, however I truly believe the chalice wasn't healthy because the eyes of the pink ******* were pink like the flesh, not multicolored like the mother colony. I got rid of the shrimps (there were 2 lol) and got another frag of the ******* and this one is healthy and growing. I have it way up top in the tank under a 10000k and a 6500k t5 bulbs. Also a Crazy fox rite next to it and a purple chalice with pink eyes up there growing like crazy. The others are lower and under an actinic and 10000k t5 bulbs. All get medium to low flow. And I also agree smooth skin = shade. Love the chalices!

 

[mannyfresh78]

I keep 10 hermies in a 20 Gallon with 20 chalices... I feed lps pellets which end up everywhere and keep the hermits happy but before I got the pellets I only spot fed frozen cubes laced with coral frenzy. Or when I didn't feel like mixing up a batch of frozen I would just add a couple scoops of the coral frenzy to the water column. The only time I had anything pick at a chalice was a pink ******* that a peppermint shrimp ate up and killed, however I truly believe the chalice wasn't healthy because the eyes of the pink ******* were pink like the flesh, not multicolored like the mother colony. I got rid of the shrimps (there were 2 lol) and got another frag of the ******* and this one is healthy and growing. I have it way up top in the tank under a 10000k and a 6500k t5 bulbs. Also a Crazy fox rite next to it and a purple chalice with pink eyes up there growing like crazy. The others are lower and under an actinic and 10000k t5 bulbs. All get medium to low flow. And I also agree smooth skin = shade. Love the chalices!

How do you keep these alive It seems as everytime I get them they die on me I don't know if its my water or what.
At what do yoi keep your parameters at..?
What abiut your light. I have a light bar with 4uv 6 blue 4 15k and 2 6500k but I don't know what's wrong...?

 

[mannyfresh78]

I bring them home and they shrink n die... is it magn. Do I dose or what? I don't at all just feed my fish brine shrymp n flakes

 

[deedeesdaddy]

Not sure why I've been so lucky. I haven't tested my water in 6 months. I know that's not a good idea but it got so monotonous with the red sea coral pro salt. Every time I tested it the perams were spot on. Ca 420 to 430, alk 8 to 10 and mag mid 1300s as advertised on the bucket. I change my water religiously 5 gallons of the 20 gallon tank. Keep the water topped off to keep the salt level as close to .024 to .025 as possible. I have 4 t5 bulbs over the tank. I've been dosing "fuel" amino acids every week to two weeks (just a cap full at a time) that really helped some of my zoanthid issues but all corals need that as well. I'll toss in a cap full of iodine every couple of months, but don't get nuts with the iodine because it's easy to overdose I've read and tests are expensive and they expire so I have yet to see an iodine test in a lfs. I have so many corals so sometimes I hit the tank with a shot of purple tech or calcium just for good measure cuz I know they gotta use it up. I feel I'm able to observe the tank and just by lookin at it I can tell it's getting close to the two week mark and due for a water change. But when the tank does talk to me in that regard I'll give it a follow up water change the very next week, again for good measure. So to sum it up I believe my luck is due to the salt I use and most importantly. ...use it. In fact, I'm due for a new bucket like yesterday. But when I get the new bucket, I will resume testing again as I've read there can be variations batch to batch, bucket to bucket. I hope that helps even tho I'm sure I've only said what you already know, maybe. It may be something as simple as your salt mix. Not all salt mixes are the same and the run of the mill instant ocean really isn't for corals. Even if u are using a reef crystal of sorts, it is possible u got a bad batch. I've read that as well and I really feel for those unlucky victims. Some people bash the red sea coral pro. Dunno why, it's been a dream come true for me....literally.. and at $65 a bucket....fantastic!....good luck

 

[deedeesdaddy]

May be your light....I'm guessing that light bar u speak of is l.e.d.s? How big is your tank? If your tank is any bigger then say, my 20 gallon 15 diodes may not be enough. Let's say you have a 20 gallon, I dunno if 15 diodes is enough. I really can't say cuz I dunno much about l.e.d.s, I've never had any. My buddy has a 29 gallon bio cube running l.e.d.s . I've never counted them but if I had to guess, his fixture has double that at least. I seriously hope any of this helps. We need more people like u in this hobby. Good luck

 

[deedeesdaddy]

I talked to my boy with the 29 gallon cube and the l.e.d.s , his light has 55 diodes. So unless your running like a 5 gallon tank, Ima guess that's not enough light. People that sell them seriously give a crap if they're gonna work for what u want them to do or are not aware of what it takes to provide the right lighting in some cases. I had an aqueon rep try to sell me their l.e.d.s, I asked them for PAR numbers, PAR is light intensity from a par meter. He kept dancing around the question and the only reference he could give me was the websites jargon, stating the l.e.d.s were the equivalent of a couple times brighter than a t8 bulb. A t8 bulb is what is used to light a room, not grow anything. T8s are also in the standard fish tank hoods which is nothing more than a "Fisher Price" my first freshwater fish tank. When I figured that out is when he lost the sale. So what I'm saying is not all l.e.d fixtures are created equal . Research until your eyes hurt my main man.

 

[wyoreefer307]

I got a larger Asian eye chalice from my friends that broke into three pieces so I'm seeing what level grows better. One high with direct light. 150watt mh 20k and in 30 blue led 3watt at 50%. One with indirect light same height and one on the bottom on a frag rack. Had them a month and the direct light is healed were cut no growth. The indirect light is growing but at a snails pace. The one clear at the bottom has had them1/4 " growth. I have to say with this test lower light works well.

 

[6eteeth]

My LFS is going out of business so I purchased this bad boy. It's about 4"x6" and didn't some on a rock. I really don't have much horizontal space so leaned it on this rock to attach. Does it have to be horizontal?

 

[deedeesdaddy]

I wood say no it doesn't but at the same time the chalice will more than likely tell u it wants some horizontal action by the way it grows. It will take some time but it will try to level out. It might look cool.but for a chalice of that size to go full on horizontal on its own will take years, if it's happy. There are fast growers tho...If I put my blue chalice on its side like that (it's probably close to that size) I bet 2 years and it would flatten out but only the new growth will head that way . I would also think horizontal like that will make it tough to feed it . It will get some nutrition from the algae within photosynthetically and from what ever nutrients in the water column but u won't be able to put a pellet on it and let it get devoured which helps it grow faster and is neat to watch

 

[truetricia]

I have a chalice that I got and it didn't acclimate well to the tank. I've moved them to lower light (leds), and they haven't changed in 2 weeks. I've got two eyes left, but I've never seen them open. I dose amino acids and am about to start using LRS reef frenzy. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Robink]

I have about 10 chalices in my tank, 75 gallon reef. They were growing (slowly), when I started feeding them they grew faster. Most of them are in areas where there is medium to high flow and doing well, (pumps on a wavemaker). Until recently I had no problems with my hermits. But the other day I noticed that one of the eyes on my Miami Hurricane chalice appeared to be damaged. I did not see the crabs do this but it does look like something ripped it. Hoping it recovers.

the first pic was taken in July and the second at the end of August of my Mummy Eye to show the growth. I also add amino acids they do seem to like it.

 

[free4mudden]

I have a Hollywood Stunner that was growing very slow. I moved it from the sand bed to the first layer of rock and it has exploded with frowth. It went from and 1 1/2" to 3+" in just over a month. So with all that, I moved my Cleveland Cavs up to the 2 layer of rock and having the same results.

 

[SantaMonica]

Is more light of course, but could also be more flow which delivers more food particles.

 

[Braves Fan]

What about Chalice's & Phosphates ,,, what is a good Phosphate number to shoot for in a Chalice only tank?

 

[CenlaReefer]

Anyone that is new at chalices should consider starting with one of the more hardy pieces that have been in captivity for a while, like the Original Mummy Eye or the Miami Hurricane. They are relatively cheap, beautiful, and are hard to kill. When you feel comfortable with how they react and what parts of your tank are good for them collect more

I love this advice. Regarding LEDs, there should be no problem if they dimmed down. Try to keep them low... Even on the tank floor.